10:00 AM-12:00 PM
Room: Superior A
Tethered satellite systems, that is, two or more satellites in orbit connected by thin long cables are a new concept of space exploration with great application potential as has been demonstrated by two NASA Space Shuttle flights. The equations of motion are a set of nonlinear, stiff, coupled partial and ordinary differential equations which pose a number of interesting problems both in their analytical and numerical treatment. The nontrivial mechanical and mathematical modelling of such systems due to their changing mass composition and various aspects concerning the mathematical treatment of the equations of motion such as the occurrence of chaotic motions, stability of relative equilibria, control strategies of deployment/retrieval of a subsatellite from a mothersatellite and efficient integration algorithms will be discussed.
Organizer: Hans Troger
Technical University Vienna, Wien, Austria
LMH, 1/11/99, MMD, 2/9/99